Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake
President Abelardo de la Espriella invokes decree to bypass Congress for 30 days on temporary taxes
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Fotografía cedida por la Presidencia de Colombia de su mandatario Abelardo de la Espriella (c). EFE/ Presidencia de Colombia Foto: EFE
Photograph: El Universo (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Colombia’s president declared an economic, social and ecological emergency after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 10 August.
- The decree allows the government to impose temporary taxes for 30 days without congressional approval.
- The earthquake devastated the centre-west of Colombia, prompting the emergency measures.
- The decree was published by the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 10 of the 16 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
55/100
Hype
35/100
16 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Colombia’s president, Abelardo de la Espriella, declared an economic, social and ecological emergency on 14 August 2026. The decree followed a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the centre-west of the country on 10 August. The measure allows the government to impose temporary taxes for 30 days without requiring approval from Congress.
The earthquake caused widespread damage in the region. The emergency decree was published by the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic, as reported by Diario Libre. The government stated the measure was necessary to address the aftermath of the disaster.
How the outlets covered the declaration
88.9 Noticias led its digest with the president’s decree as an “economic emergency” to manage earthquake damage. It noted the 30-day window for temporary taxes without congressional approval. The outlet did not specify the social or ecological dimensions of the emergency.
Diario Libre reported the decree as a “state of economic, social and ecological emergency”. It included the publication of the decree by the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic and named the 15 departments affected, though the full list was not provided in the digest.
What the coverage left out
Neither digest specified the exact amount or nature of the temporary taxes the government may impose. The 88.9 Noticias digest did not mention the social or ecological aspects of the emergency. Diario Libre’s digest did not detail the extent of the damage or the estimated cost of recovery.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 20 Aug 2026, 11:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake
WFMZ — embedded from source

Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake
Korrespondent.net — embedded from source
Read it at the source
16 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
1Right
4- Colombia Declared a State of Emergency in the Economy After the Earthquake (opens Korrespondent.net in a new tab)
Korrespondent.net — is Korrespondent.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Colombia Declares Economic State of Emergency (opens Reformatorisch Dagblad in a new tab)
Reformatorisch Dagblad — is Reformatorisch Dagblad biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Colombia Declares Economic Emergency After Earthquake of 7.4 (opens Reforma in a new tab)
- Colombia Declares Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency in 15 Departments After Earthquake of 7.4 (opens El Universo in a new tab)
El Universo — is El Universo biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
10- Earthquake in Colombia, Live De La Espriella Decrees the State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency by the Earthquake (opens informacion.es in a new tab)
informacion.es — is informacion.es biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Economic Emergency Declared in Colombia · Global Voices (opens 88.9 Noticias in a new tab)
88.9 Noticias — is 88.9 Noticias biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Colombia: Abelardo De La Espriella Decrees State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency by Earthquake · Global Voices (opens RPP in a new tab)
- De La Espriella Decrees a State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency by Earthquake in Colombia (opens El Comercio in a new tab)
El Comercio — is El Comercio biased? Our profile of this outlet
- De La Espriella Decrees a State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency by Earthquake (opens Proceso Digital in a new tab)
Proceso Digital — is Proceso Digital biased? Our profile of this outlet
- De La Espriella Decrees the State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency in Colombia by the Earthquake - La Noticia SV (opens lanoticiasv.com in a new tab)
lanoticiasv.com — is lanoticiasv.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Colombian President Declares Economic Emergency to Deal With Devastating Earthquake · Global Voices (opens Independent Español in a new tab)
Independent Español — is Independent Español biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abelardo De La Espriella Announces Economic Emergency Decree After the Earthquake (opens larazon.co in a new tab)
larazon.co — is larazon.co biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 2 more
- Relevant President of the Espriella Will Sign Today Economic Emergency Decree to Deal with Earthquake in Colombia (opens Valora Analitik in a new tab)
Valora Analitik — is Valora Analitik biased? Our profile of this outlet
- De La Espriella Decrees a State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency by Earthquake (opens diariolibre.com in a new tab)
diariolibre.com — is diariolibre.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 17% are rated left, 16% are rated centre, 67% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 16. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake biased?
- Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake is one event reported by 16 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Colombia declares emergency after 7.4-magnitude earthquake?
- 16 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What does Colombia’s emergency decree allow?
- The decree allows Colombia’s government to impose temporary taxes for 30 days without congressional approval. It was declared after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 10 August 2026 to address damage in the centre-west region.
- Which regions of Colombia were affected by the earthquake?
- The earthquake devastated the centre-west of Colombia. Diario Libre reported the emergency decree applied to 15 departments, though the full list was not provided in its digest.
- How long will the emergency measures last?
- The emergency decree is in force for 30 days. It allows the government to bypass Congress for temporary taxes during this period to fund disaster response.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.


